Senators Push New Bill To Protect Municipal Broadband
from the who-let-those-people-in? dept
Just when you thought that the lobbyists had taken over, and all of the legislation being proposed at both the local and national levels were focused on ways to buck up companies that didn’t want to innovate or keep up with the times, it looks like some politicians are actually being reasonable (shocking, we know). In response to a bill that would ban municipal broadband, that was proposed by a former SBC employee who still owned a lot of stock in the company (and who is married to a current Cingular employee), Senators John McCain and Frank Lautenberg are introducing the Community Broadband Act of 2005, which would guarantee local governments the right to explore municipal broadband as an option. It doesn’t encourage municipal broadband or suggest it’s the right option. It just clears the way for cities to explore the option if they believe it’s best for their citizens. This sounds like a reasonable law, outside of the scary fact that it’s needed in the first place. It still seems like many cities shouldn’t offer municipal broadband, as it offers no real benefit. Also, it’s likely that many municipal efforts will be implemented poorly. However, that’s no reason not to have the option out there for local governments to offer the service if they believe it makes sense.
